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Bobby Lashley Beats Apollo Crews to Win United States Title at WWE Payback 2020
August 30, 2020
Bobby Lashley defeated Apollo Crews at WWE Payback on Sunday to win the United States Championship for the second time in his career.
Crews built a full head of steam rebounding off the ropes, but he ran straight into a massive spinebuster courtesy of Lashley.
The All Mighty stalked his prey before locking in the Full Nelson. Once he took Crews to the ground, the champion had no choice but to tap out.
However, as the new champion celebrated with MVP and Shelton Benjamin, the outgoing titleholder attacked Lashley from behind and vowed to get the belt back.
Crews' issues with The Hurt Business have been highlighted on Raw for the past few months, but his main rival during that time has been MVP. After beating the group's leader at SummerSlam, though, it was Lashley's turn to step up.
Throughout Crews' rivalry with the stable, The All Mighty has seemingly been his kryptonite, as he put him down on numerous occasions with the Full Nelson.
Crews was supposed to defend the U.S. title against MVP at Extreme Rules after MVP beat him in a non-title match on Raw, but he was not cleared to compete because of the effects of Lashley's Full Nelson.
Once he managed to return, Crews beat MVP in a title match on Raw and then did it again at SummerSlam, with Lashley and Benjamin being banned from ringside for last week's encounter.
Given the success Lashley had in terms of physically dominating Crews, making him the No. 1 contender was a logical move.
On the go-home episode of Raw prior to Payback, the two men took part in an arm-wrestling contest, with WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry serving as the referee.
Lashley was the favorite going in, but his attempt to gain the upper hand by illegally putting his foot underneath the table backfired when Crews retaliated by stomping his rival's foot. That allowed him to win, and the result held up despite Lashley's appeals to Henry.
That gave Crews some momentum entering Payback, although he was still the underdog because of The All Mighty's size and strength advantage.
That advantage resulted in Lashley prevailing and finally prying the U.S. title away from Crews, which is a major coup for the credibility of The Hurt Business.
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